[Blindmath] questions about LaTeX and accessibility for blind people

Wed Aug 4 13:34:10 UTC 2010

I think the only other accessible form of published mathematics would
be Math ML (which can then be read by MathPlayer from Design Science
and other software, such as Lambda for instance).
The only two solutions I am aware of for computer math is math ml and
putting the LaTeX source code for equations as the alt text for
pictures in an html document.
LaTeX has been the handiest solution for blind students, provided they
get the code or can use InftyReader to sscan a pdf file or printed
page and output it as LaTeX, but there is a big shift towards Math ML,
both for math within web pages and Daisy books etc, EBook publishers
are turning to math ml as well.
So, for published documents, you may want to look into LaTeX to Math
ML plug ins and publish them that way for increased accessibility.
Some people are not comfortable publishing the LaTeX source code for
their works and this seems an acceptable solution.
Cheers
-B

On 8/4/10, Trevor Saunders <trev.saunders at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> yeah, sorry I missed that.  It shouldn't be that hard to patch one or
> more of the latex to html or other formaters.  Especially since its not
> an issue with latex so much as the existing formaters for marking it up
> into a displayable form.
>
> Trev
>
> On Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 05:30:36AM -0600, Joseph C. Lininger wrote:
>> Hi Trevor,
>> The equation problem I described wasn't just when using pdflatex. It
>> happens if I convert from LaTeX to anything. PDF in general has
>> various access problems in my experience, so it's not the format I
>> prefer when I have a choice. Of course, I don't always. But anyway,
>> yeah. The accessibility problems with equations come up whether it's
>> html, rtf, or pdf that I'm converting to.
>> Joe
>>
>> Trevor Saunders writes:
>>
>> >HI,
>> >
>> >Personally I like latex a lot for writing documents.
>> >
>> >so far as equations in pdf go, afaik nobody has a clear idea how to make
>> >them accessible, so its hard for pdflatex to create accessible
>> >equations.  However is there is a way you could consider providing a
>> >patch to the maintainers of pdflatex.
>> >
>> >I think I've seen the one word per line issue you decribe, however I've
>> >also noticed that pdftotext run on a pdf made from latex suffers a
>> >little from the ligatures, but doesn't have the one word per line thing,
>> >I don't know what the issue there is.
>> >
>> >personally I feel like providing source is generally useful, and for
>> >know a pretty good way to get around the accessibility issues.
>> >
>> >Trev
>> >
>> >On Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 04:47:19AM -0600, Joseph C. Lininger wrote:
>> >>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> >>Hash: SHA256
>> >>
>> >>Hi all,
>> >>I originally posted some questions about LaTeX on the NABS and NFBCS
>> >>mailing lists. Someone recommended I try asking my questions here. So,
>> >>here's a copy of my original post to those lists.
>> >>
>> >>Good evening folks,
>> >>The subject says it all. I'm exploring the use of the LaTeX typesetting
>> >>system. I can use it to generate math equations and the like, but if i
>> >>do so it's not accessible once I generate the final product. That's fine
>> >>as far as writing goes, since I have the source I know what it says.
>> >>However, I'd rather not contribute to the problems we already face where
>> >>blindness and access to this sort of information is concerned. So, can
>> >>anyone provide me with information on formatting these types of
>> >>documents so they're accessible? Can it even be done? Even making it so
>> >>the LaTeX source appears for the blind where the equations would go for
>> >>the sighted would be a good thing.
>> >>
>> >>Also, I've noticed that when using pdflatex from the texlive-latex
>> >>package under Linux, the resulting document appears to have one word per
>> >>line when read by Window-Eyes and adobe Acrobat. I can tell you visually
>> >>that it appears correctly on screen though. I see this as another
>> >>potential access problem. Any clue how to fix that? Using latex2rtf and
>> >>hevea for generating rtf and html result in documents that don't have
>> >>this property and can be read just fine, save for the problems with
>> >>equations which I've already discussed.
>> >>
>> >>If I had to, I could always provide LaTeX source along side what ever
>> >>other formats I offer for my own work. However, in the case of
>> >>publishing and that it may not always be an option to do so. So I'm
>> >>exploring my options. LaTeX is one that math and computer scientists
>> >>seem to use heavily, so that's the obvious choice if I can make it work.
>> >>- - --
>> >>They say god has always been. Linux and I will now disprove that:
>> >>$ ar m God
>> >>ar: creating God
>> >>There you have it. God was created by the ar program. Good news is, God
>> >>really does exist!
>> >>Joseph C. Lininger <jbahm at pcdesk.net>
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>> >>
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